OS X: My roommate recently lost her voice, and that's been a challenge because we talk a lot. To fix the problem, we decided to get her Mac to talk for her. This is easy enough if you just use the TextEdit app included with OS X, but it gets a little tedious because you have to access the menu each time. Here are a couple of more convenient solutions.

The simplest option is to buy an app called Type 'n' Tell, available on the Mac App Store for $1. It really ought to be free, seeing as it does very little that the operating system doesn't already, but it's perfect for those occasions when you lose your voice and need to communicate. All you do is type what you want to say, press return, and the computer speakers it. You can even pin the windows to the top of your screen at all times for quick and easy access.

Alternatively, your best free option is to assign a keyboard shortcut to TextEdit's speech command. To do this, follow these instructions:

Open System Preferences and go into the Keyboard section.

Click the Keyboard Shortcuts, and then choose Application Shortcuts from the lefthand list

Below the righthand list, click the + button.

When new options appear, enter "Start Speaking" (without quotes) under the "Menu Title" area. Also enter a keyboard shortcut of your choice. When finished, click the Add button.

When you're finished, just select any text in TextEdit and press the keyboard shortcut you chose. It requires a little more work and is a little less convenient than the app you can buy, but if you don't want to pay anything to make your computer speak for you this is the way to go.